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There can’t be many newbie directors whose work comes with as much anticipation as Taylor Sheridan.

Having written two of the finest thrillers of recent years in Sicario and Hell And High Water, he’s in the director’s chair for just the second time with the much-hyped Wind River.

Jeremy Renner dons a big hat and a bigger shotgun as Cory, a skilled wildlife tracker working in the snow-engulfed Wind River reservation in Wyoming who stumbles across a body in the snow, a young girl with no shoes clearly running from something before she froze to death.

The local authorities call in Jane (Elisabeth Olsen), a Las Vegas FBI agent unfamiliar with the town or its Native American population, and she uses Cory’s tracking skills to find out just who could have been responsible for the girl’s death, facing their own inner demons in the process.

(Picture: The Weinstein Company)

Set against a quiet, snowy canvas, with Nick Cave’s soundtrack echoing throughout, this is a very thoughtful kind of thriller. It brings to mind recent Scandinavian TV detective shows, where revealing who our heroes truly are is as important as finding out what happened to the victim. With so much invested in the characters and their journeys, the slow creep towards the truth becomes unbearably tense.

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Sheridan’s dialogue brings the small community to life, combining with strong performances to make the more emotional moments subtly impactful. The film’s underlying message, about attitudes towards and treatment of indigenous populations, feels a little bit forced, particularly in a film starring two non-Native actors, and is arguably the only bump in the road in this gripping journey.

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Both Renner and Olsen have been appearing in supporting roles recently – often part of the crowd in The Avengers movies, and supporting players in films like Godzilla and Arrival. Their brief scenes together in Age Of Ultron must have sparked something because putting the focus solely on them showcases just how good both can be.

As Cory, Renner looks both haunted and peaceful at the same time. Destroyed by the death of his daughter, the case becomes very personal to him, but nonetheless provides the calm counterbalance to his co-star. Olsen’s overwrought agent is perfectly pitched – a skilled agent working with what she has in a case getting more and more complicated.

(Picture: The Weinstein Company)

Tough and compassionate, she and Renner make a captivating team. It’s also a testament to Sheridan’s writing that there’s no romantic subplot squeezed in, bringing a dynamic you don’t normally see in bigger budget films.

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While it stops just short of Sheridan’s previous jaw-dropping work, Wind River takes the conventional mystery thriller and turns it on its head. It’s fraught ending will stay with you for a while, and help you remember that there’s much more to Jeremy Renner than super-charged bow and arrow.